1. Georgia Watershed – Areas
most vulnerable to
pollution and erosion
Paige A Whitfield
GEOG 3315
12-Nov-14 1

2. Why I selected this project topic
 I have volunteered for the Watershed Alliance of Sandy Springs, WASS
 I enjoy aspects of the environment like soils and water quality (on a side note
I like climatic aspects as well like air pressure and temperature!)
 This data was easy to find!
12-Nov-14 2

3. Basemap
A bit of background
 The Atlanta area is the
largest location in the
Southeast and where
most of it’s water
originates.
 The water affects more
than just the state of
Georgia, but the states
surrounding it as well.
 What areas in the
watersheds are most
vulnerable to erosion
and low water quality?
12-Nov-14 3

4. Analysis
 The basins shown in the
reds and oranges on the
left are the basins with
mostly very thin soil.
 The basins with the most
water quality sites have
the largest symbols shown
on the right.
 Points of interest are the
Chattahoochee and Coosa
Basins.
12-Nov-14 4

5. Soil thickness
inside the basins
The basins with the largest percentages are
Flint, Tennessee and Coosa.
Those top few basins are affected by the
Appalachian Mountains in north Georgia,
Chattahoochee, Coosa and Tennessee.
12-Nov-14 5
Chattahoochee, 31.7%
Coosa,38.0%
Flint, 53.4%
Ocmulgee,29.3%
Oconee,
12.1%Ogeechee,0.0%
Savannah, 21.0%
Tallapoosa, 16.3%
Tennessee,48.1%
Ratio of square mile of thinnest soil to total
soil in each Watershed Basin
Chattahoochee
Coosa
Flint
Ocmulgee
Oconee
Ogeechee
Savannah
Tallapoosa
Tennessee

6. Water Quality Sites
inside the basins
The top basins here are Chattahoochee,
Coosa and Oconee.
There is not a huge relation with the two
factors but a couple of the basins have the
highest percentage to large totals of water
quality sites, bringing the Chattahoochee and
Coosa basins into interest.
12-Nov-14 6
Basin Water Quality
Site Count
Chattahoochee 714
Coosa 643
Oconee 587
Savannah 375
Ocmulgee 362
Tennessee 264
Flint 73
Tallapoosa 2
Ogeechee 0

7. Results
 The watersheds shown in red here,
based from the correlations shown
in the previous maps, have the
highest and most vulnerability to
erosion and pollution.
 Due to location giving low
thickness soil and the most water
quality site locations relative to
the surrounding watersheds.
12-Nov-14 7

8. Drawbacks and Conclusion
 A drawback, if I had incorporated
an elevation dataset with this
data, I could have showed the
mountains as well. Elevation
changes effect soil thickness
greatly.
 When soils are thinner, more runoff
is present thus can bring more
pollution into the watersheds.
 I conclude there was some kind of
relationship with location of the
basins, the soil thickness and
number of water quality sites to
the watershed areas.
 The basins with thinner soils from
elevation differences from the
mountains had more water quality
sites, where more non-point
pollution is present.
12-Nov-14 8